'He’s got Trump’s number': Ex-federal prosecutor explains 'strategy' of Jack Smith’s newest motion



A former federal prosecutor says Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith's latest filing shows his unique understanding of former President Donald Trump — not just in a criminal sense, but in a political sense.

In a Thursday essay for Slate, Dennis Aftergut, who is a former Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of California, analyzed elements of the filing Smith submitted to US District Court this week seeking to ban Trump from making certain statements in the courtroom. Aftergut, who co-authored the essay with Amherst College political science professor Austin Sarat, wrote that "Smith has told us three important things about his larger project and strategy."

"First, he’s a man in a hurry to ensure the fair administration of justice... Second, the motion told us that even while the trial is on hold, Smith intends to take the initiative and remain the lead in the courtroom... Third, and most important, Smith is saying loud and clear that he’s got Trump’s number," Aftergut and Sarat wrote. "The special counsel is telling Trump and the rest of us that he (Smith) understands who Trump is and the meaning of his trial for a rule-of-law society."

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

According to Aftergut and Sarat, Smith's motion to muzzle Trump in the courtroom seeks "to ensure that Trump can’t politicize his trial by introducing evidence that would turn a courtroom into a circus." One of the arguments Smith wants to prevent Trump from making include the former president's past assertions that he was singled out by President Joe Biden for a supposed political persecution. Another argument Smith wants to strike is Trump's baseless suggestion that the January 6 crowd was somehow made up of undercover government agents. He also hopes to prevent Trump from mentioning alleged foreign government election interference in 2020.

"Such evidence," Smith said, "should be excluded as an irrelevant and confusing sideshow."

The motion itself was submitted to US District Court in the District of Columbia, where the Obama-appointed Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing proceedings. However, in the wake of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) signaling that it may decide on the question of absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution after the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has its say, Chutkan has temporarily paused proceedings.

Should Trump's immunity argument be struck down by the DC Circuit, and if SCOTUS doesn't grant a writ of certiorari to hear the appeal, Chutkan would resume her role as the judge overseeing the case.

READ MORE: New Jack Smith filing includes list of Trump arguments that 'must be excluded' from courtroom



from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/Iau3SNj
via sinceretalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How misinformation could shape the Israel-Hamas war

Image
I wanted to interview Nicholas Grossman regarding the role of misinformation in the war between Israel and Hamas. In particular, I hoped to ask the professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, and senior editor of Arc Digital , about misinformation that arose from American reporting on an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. You know what? I ended up repeating a bit of misinformation! I asked him to lay out the facts about a blast that “killed hundreds, including kids,” and he said nuh-uh (not his words). In fact, Professor Grossman said, “there never were hundreds killed by an explosion at that hospital. Media reported that the hospital was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike killing 500, but that was based on something a Hamas-controlled agency said and was never supported by evidence.” Professor Grossman went on to say “what apparently did happen is something hit a nearby parking lot and caused a smaller explosion, most likely a rocket fired from Gaza towards I
Read more

PA GOP Senate candidate who says he 'started with nothing' actually grew up in a mansion

Image
David McCormick, who is Pennsylvania's presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee, has often suggested he grew up poor in a rural community. But a new report finds that his upbringing was far more affluent than he's suggested. The New York Times reported Friday that McCormick — a former hedge fund executive who lived in Connecticut as recently as 2022 — has been cagey with voters about his childhood. McCormick has tweeted that he was "raised in Bloomsburg working on his family's farm," said on a 2022 podcast that he " started with nothing " and told CBS News that same year that he " didn't have anything " growing up as the son of two schoolteachers. But according to the Times , McCormick's father, Dr. James H. McCormick , was appointed president of what is now Bloomsburg University by Gov. Milton Schapp (D) in 1973. He moved his family into Buckalew Place — the official mansion for presidents of the school that currently spans 5
Read more

'It is his aphrodisiac': Ex-RNC chair explains how gag order 'stimulates' Trump and his base

Image
As President Donald Trump faces gag orders in two separate cases — one from Judge Arthur Engoron presiding over his New York civil fraud trial, and the other from Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside of his Washington, DC January 6 trial in March — some experts expect him to violate the orders soon. With a history of threatening and verbally attacking others, MSNBC's Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday pointed to the fact the ex-president's rhetoric influenced January 6 rioters who chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!" Noting Trump "gets deeply stimulated and excited by the violence," Wallace asked analyst and ex-Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele what he thinks the MAGA hopeful's "calculation is on whether violating these gag orders lands him in jail is a good thing or bad thing for him." POLL : Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? Steele replied, "You put your finger on two very important words t
Read more